Take a Ride
by MrTyeDye
Summary: Ronnie Anne takes Lincoln to the park in style.


**Author's Note: This fanfic was a Secret Santa gift to my friend and fellow writer, InsaneWriterStudios. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

* * *

When Lincoln visited Ronnie Anne in Great Lakes City, he typically left the itinerary up to her. He reasoned that she knew the city better than he did, so she trusted her judgment when it came to deciding where to go or what to do.

This time around, that there were two things he wanted to do: first, challenge Ronnie Anne to a few rounds of Muscle Fish. Although she typically had the upper hand during their bouts, he had been looking up Youtube tutorials and practicing his combos for the past two months, and he was aching to show off his progress. The second? Go to the park. Although he typically preferred indoors to outdoors, the daily weather forecast predicted a beautiful, clear-skied day with temperatures hovering in the upper 50's - not too cold, not too hot - and he didn't want to let such a day go to waste. Ronnie Anne agreed to both.

Muscle Fish came first. Shortly after he arrived at 10, the two of them clomped upstairs and kicked off their gaming session. Over the next two hours, it was clear that Lincoln's practice and study had paid off, as he was giving his tomboyish friend quite a bit of trouble. After scoring three decisive victories in a row with his newly chosen main, Octo-Gon, he left her no choice but to bring out her own - Lady Orca. This culminated in a tense, even bout where each character pulled out all the stops to ensure victory. Octo-Gon used his projectiles to control the pace of the match, while Lady Orca did her best to weave around them and close the distance.

Eventually, both characters were left with only a sliver of HP. Lady Orca seeing victory in her grasp, went for a grab, only to watch aghast as Octo-Gon sidestepped out of the way and finished her off with an ink bullet.

**KO**

**Octo-Gon Wins**

"Ha!" cried Lincoln, grinning and pumping his fist in the air. "I _told _you I'd been practicing!"

Ronnie Anne just snorted. "Practicing what? How to spam Octo-Gon's specials over and over?"

"It's not spamming! It's _zoning_! There's a difference!"

"Pfft, whatever," she muttered in response, lacking the willpower to debate semantics with him. She leaned forward and turned her game system off with a click. "I think we've played enough. Let's go to the park."

He gave her a knowing smirk, relishing in his rare opportunity to declare victory over her. "Tired of losing, huh?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Ronnie Anne twisted herself towards him and jabbed him in the chest with her pointer finger. "Hey, _you _were the one who said you wanted to go to the park today, bucko."

Lincoln, flinching a bit from the poke, backed off and held up his hands defensively. "Okay, okay, that's fair. Let's go to the park."

He picked himself up and moved towards the door, expecting her to follow. Instead, she crawled underneath her bed and started rummaging through the miscellaneous items she had lazily thrown under there. "I need a sec to get myself together. You can just go down and I'll meet you on the stoop."

Lincoln was a little puzzled, but let it pass without comment. If nothing else, he appreciated having the time to say hello to the diverse, colorful members of her family. On his way through the house, he posed for a photo from Frida, sampled a bit of Rosa's pico de gallo, and learned an interesting fact about pirates from CJ.

By the time he finally got to the stoop, he didn't have to wait long before his friend emerged from the front door with her helmet strapped to her head and her skateboard under her arm. He wasn't surprised that she would want to get in a bit of boarding during their outing, but he _was _taken a bit off guard once he spied a second skateboard and helmet under her other arm.

"Two skateboards?" he asked.

"Yep!" she said, flashing him a wide smile. "One for me, one for you. I figured we could go there in style!"

Lincoln was tempted to write this off as a joke, but he didn't see a single trace of sarcasm or facetiousness anywhere on her face; her smile was as sincere as could be.

"Um, Ronnie Anne..." he mumbled, limply raising his finger in objection.

"This here is my Uncle Carlos's old board. It's a little rusty, but it still works pretty well."

"Ronnie Anne..."

"We'll meet up with Sameer while we're there. He can teach us this new handplant trick that I saw him-"

"RONNIE ANNE!"

Ronnie Anne's smile disappeared as her eyes snapped towards his. "What is it?"

"I don't know how to skateboard."

She stood there in confused silence for a couple of seconds, until the meaning of his words sunk in. Once they did, she deflated and went limp, almost losing her grip on the boards. "...ah. Right."

Feeling the weight of her own sheepishness and embarrassment, Ronnie Anne shuffled her way back towards the door. She'd been so excited about the prospect of skating to the park alongside him that it never occurred to her to ask if he actually skated. The very idea made her feel... well, not quite stupid, but definitely a bit thoughtless.

"I guess... I guess we can just walk there. Walking's fine."

Lincoln, wincing in sympathy at his friend's dour words, reached out to give her a comforting pat on the back. But right before he reached her back, she suddenly perked up, making him flinch and jerk his hand away.

"Unless..." she said with a hint of excitement.

"Unless what?"

Rather than give a response, Ronnie Anne grabbed the front doorknob, creaked it open and slipped inside. "Hold on just a sec. I'll be right back."

It wasn't long before a grinning, rejuvenated Ronnie Anne re-emerged from the door. Puzzlingly, she still had her helmet on, and she was still holding her board and the spare helmet; the only item she put back was the extra skateboard.

"What's with this?" asked Lincoln. "I told you I don't know how to skateboard."

"Just put it on, Lame-O. This'll all make sense in a second."

Despite his puzzlement, he decided to take her word for it and strap the helmet on. He then watched as she reached the bottom of the stairs, laid her board down and mounted it. Once she found her footing, she crouched down, looked at him and smirked.

"Get on."

Lincoln blinked. _She's not really asking me to... is she?_

"Beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Get on my back."

_Yep._

He twiddled his fingers as he crept towards her, realizing that she was a) serious, and b) not going to take no for an answer.

"I... really? Are you sure you can carry me?"

Ronnie Anne just smirked and cocked her head back, sending a wave rippling down her ponytail. "I once carried my grandma across town. I'm pretty sure I can handle a beanpole like you. Get on."

Lincoln's jaw fell a bit slack at his friend's boast. Rosa tended to wear dresses that obscured her figure, but from what he could tell, she was a pretty heavyset woman. And Ronnie Anne bore that weight for several blocks? He always knew she was pretty sporty and athletic, but how could a girl her age be that strong?

"You're kidding."

"I'm not. You can just ask her if you don't believe me."

She gave Lincoln another smirk and patted herself on the back a couple times. "Now get on. I promise I won't drop you. Cross my heart."

Lincoln was still a bit apprehensive, but remembered all too well what happened the last time he didn't trust her. Seeking to avoid a repeat of the egg project fiasco, he took a deep breath, walked up to the board and climbed onto Ronnie Anne's back. To his surprise, her knees barely buckled under his weight.

"Hold on tight!" she cried, steeling herself for the journey ahead. Lincoln nodded, wrapped his arms around her neck and coiled his legs around her waist. Once she sensed that he had secured his grip, she took off.

And just like that, he was launched into the ride of his life. The world around him blurred more and more as she picked up speed, as gusts of cool wind buffeted his face and sent his hair askew. His heartbeat skyrocketed in both speed and intensity, until it felt like a jackhammer was drilling him from the inside. All the while, he clung to his friend like a newborn to his mother, desperate not to let his grip slip even a little. It didn't help that he had no way of knowing how much farther they had to go; he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and when he _did _manage to prop them open, he could barely make out the scenery whizzing past him. His body was aching for him to get off, and he almost brought himself to yell for her to stop.

But then... while he was tightening his grip, he felt his cheek brush up against hers. It was only a light graze, but the warm sensation of her skin against his was just strong enough to trigger a change within him. A wave of relief radiated outward from the spot where their cheeks touched, washing away any doubt that she would get him to the park safe and sound. A dreamy smile spread across his cheeks, which endured throughout the remainder of the trip.

Eventually, he felt the board slow down and come to a stop. Opening his eyes, he found that Ronnie Anne had brought him to the heart of the park. He released his grip, let himself fall off her back and collapsed to the ground, panting.

"Seriously?" said Ronnie Anne as she loomed over his prone form. "_You're _the one who's out of breath?"

"I know, I know," he said in between gasps of air. "It's just... _boy_, what a rush."

Ronnie Anne chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. "You just need some protein. Wait right there."

Lincoln barely eked out a nod as she walked away. A few moments later, she returned with two hot dogs, each loaded up with beans, onions and sauerkraut. She then knelt down, laid one of the hot dogs down on her board, and brought the other one to his lips. As soon as she lowered herself, the intoxicating aroma of the meaty dog and its myriad spices filled his airways.

"Here you go, Lame-O. Open wide."

He happily obliged and let her feed him the hot dog, bite by bite. It wasn't exactly gourmet, but it was warm, hearty and flavorful - everything you'd expect from comfort food - and for reasons he didn't quite understand, having it hand-fed to him made the experience all the more satisfying.

"Mmm... thanks, Ronnie Anne," he muttered, as he let her wipe his face clean.

"You're welcome," she said, taking him by the hand and pulling him up to his feet. "Now come on, Sameer's waiting for us."

And with that, they took off. Sameer, as it turned out, was a bit disappointed to find out that Lincoln didn't know how to skate, but Lincoln assured him that he was perfectly happy to watch. He looked on in amazement as Sameer demonstrated his handplant, and was even more amazed to see Ronnie Anne nail it after trying it five or six times. Sameer showed off for a little bit more before taking off, and Ronnie Anne spent the next couple hours taking her suburbanite friend all across the park and showing him everything it had to offer. Between the skaters, jugglers, statues, amateur theater productions, duck ponds and big patches of grass to relax in, he wasn't bored or underwhelmed for a single moment.

But of course, all good things must come to an end. Lincoln had promised Lori that he would meet her outside the Casagrandes' home at 3:30 so she could take him home, so around 3:00 they decided to pack it in.

As they neared the park's entrance, Ronnie Anne strapped on her helmet, hopped on her board and gave Lincoln a knowing smile. "Ready for another ride?"

He responded with an eager nod. He strapped on the spare helmet, jumped onto her back and secured his grip, eager to begin their journey home.

"You know, Lame-O, I _could _teach you how to skateboard if you want," she said. Offer's open."

"Maybe someday," said Lincoln. "For now, I'm pretty okay with this."


End file.
